Thought it was time we had a separate thread to mark the passing of those from other sports who may necessarily be celebrities.

Beginning this thread with the tragic death of 20 year old rugby league player Archie Bruce, found dead in his hotel room in France the morning after the scrum half made his debut for Batley Bulldogs off the replacements bench in their Championship match against Toulouse.

Archie had previously played in the National Conference League for Dewsbury Moor Maroons, who will be dedicating their 2nd teams game against Milford Marlins on Thursday to their former player. From their Facebook page: 'BBC are broadcasting live from 6:30pm (presumably on Look North) let show what Dewsbury Moor family is all about. There will be a minutes applause before game. Can people get there for 6:30 pm please as we are trying to get game a 7pm KO (7:30pm is the scheduled KO time). There will be a place to pay respects and leave flowers. There is no attendance charge for the game but some junior players will be going round with buckets to collect for Archie's benevolent fund'.

One of rugby league’s characters, Gary Cooper, has died, aged 80. A full-back or centre, Cooper had considerable success as a player for Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity in the 1950s and 60s, and went on to coach York. The brother of former Hull chairwoman Kath Hetherington - therefore Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington’s brother in law - Cooper joined Rovers from Featherstone Juniors in 1958. He went on to make 187 appearances for the club, scoring 43 tries and nine goals, and was captain for a spell in 1960.

He was a Great Britain tourist in 1962, making 16 appearances though not featuring in the Test side, and was signed by Trinity in 1966 for a £3,000 fee. Cooper played in Trinity’s 1967 Championship final win over St Helens, and received the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match when Wakefield retained the title by beating Hull KR the following year. He also played in the 1968 'Watersplash' Challenge Cup final defeat by Leeds at Wembley.

After hanging up his boots, Cooper coached York. Initially, Cooper was assistant coach to Tommy Harris then, between 1974 and 1976, head coach. Cooper took York to a Challenge Cup quarter-final against St Helens at Clarence Street, where his enthusiasm was infectious and regularly brought big gates to the city. He was also able to bring some world class players to York such as Great Britain forward Terry Clawson, the legendary Neil Fox, RU British Lion Bryan West and the much travelled Geoff Clarkson.

And a loss, on August 13, to both rugby codes...

Steve Booth, a mercurial half-back or wing, who played league for Huddersfield and Doncaster then union with Leicester and Bath, has died, of heart disease, at the age of 42. Tragically, Booth died the day after proposing marriage to long-time girlfriend Danielle Watts. Pontefract-born Booth, who had complained of heartburn in the days before he collapsed, joined Leicester in 2000 and went on to score 26 tries in 71 appearances for the Tigers. He helped Leicester win the Premiership twice and the Heineken (European) Cup twice. Booth spent the 2005 season with Bath. He represented England 'A'. Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy described Booth as a "real entertainer on the pitch" who could "score tries from nothing". Murphy added: "He came in from rugby league but settled in quickly, and he played the best rugby of his career at Leicester in a very successful team." Booth leaves Danielle and their children, Maisie, nine, and Jack, five.

Hunslet Rugby League Club have paid tribute to their legendary former scrum-half Alf 'Ginger' Burnell, who has died at the age of 95. A member of the club's Hall of Fame, he made 351 appearances in the myrtle, white and flame during the immediate post-war era. Burnell played for Great Britain in three Tests, was capped by England on four occasions and represented Yorkshire five times. He retired in 1958, going on to run three Leeds pubs and become a gifted artist.

Motor racing driver Anthoine Hubert has died after a high-speed incident at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

From the BBC Sport website:

Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert has been killed in a crash at the Belgian Grand Prix, motorsport's governing body the FIA has said. The Frenchman, who was 22, suffered a huge impact from the car of American Juan Manuel Correa at about 170mph at the Raidillon swerves.

An FIA statement said that Hubert was taken to the medical centre after the incident, and died at 18:35 local time. Correa was taken to Liege hospital and is in a stable condition, the FIA said. The race was stopped after the crash and cancelled within a few minutes when the potential seriousness of the accident became clear. Formula 2 have announced that Sunday's sprint race at Spa has been cancelled "out of respect", while the Formula 3 race will go ahead.

Hubert, who drove for the BWT Arden team, was lying eighth in the championship and had scored two wins this season, in Monaco and France. He was also was part of Renault F1's young driver programme. Renault said in a statement: "Anthoine was a member of the Renault Sport Academy and raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the final ladder to F1. As reigning GP3 champion and member of the Equipe de France, FFSA (French Federation of Motorsport), the Frenchman was a huge talent who also brought great energy and positivity to his championship, his teams and the Renault Sport Academy. His smile and sunny personality lit up our formidable group of young drivers, who had formed tight and enduring bonds. His strong results in F2 this season, including wins on home soil in Monaco and France, inspired not just the other recruits but also the wider Renault Sport Racing group."

Other racing drivers and teams from across motorsport have paid tribute on social media. Former F1 driver Fernando Alonso posted on Twitter: "What a sad afternoon. I have no words. It hurts the heart. Rest in peace, champ." Lewis Hamilton wrote on Instagram: "This is devastating. God rest your soul Anthoine. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family today. If a single one of you watching and enjoying this sport think for a second what we do is safe your hugely mistaken. All these drivers put their life on the line when they hit the track and people need to appreciate that in a serious way because it is not appreciated enough. Not from the fans nor some of the people actually working in the sport. Anthoine is a hero as far as I'm concerned, for taking the risk he did to chase his dreams. I'm so sad that this has happened. Let's left him up and remember him. Rest in peace brother." Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi said on Twitter: "We are boys who, with great sacrifice, chase their dreams. But we are first and foremost professionals. Anthoine was all this, but above all he was one of us. At this terrible time my thoughts are with his family and all the people who love him."

Former Great Britain (one cap, versus Russia), Norwich (1954, 1958-60), Yarmouth (1959-60), Cradley Heath (1960, 1966), Sheffield (1961-65) and King's Lynn (1967-72) speedway rider Clive Featherby has died, in Brisbane, at the age of 86. King's Lynn-born Featherby was noted as a rider of great determination. He retired from speedway in 1972, later moving to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Son Craig, also a speedway rider, was killed in 1983, when with Milton Keynes, in a track crash at Peterborough. Neil, another of Featherby's three sons, told edp24.co.uk: "He was a totally different person away from the track. They called him a Jekyll and Hyde character. He would do anything for anyone - apart from when you were on the same race track as him. On the track, he gave it his all." Featherby leaves three sons, two daughters, 12 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Chester Williams, the only black member of South Africa's 1995 rugby world cup winning team, has died aged just 49. He becomes the fourth member of that Sprinbok side to die at such a tragically young age following the death of James Small two months ago and earlier losses of Joost van der Westhuizen and Ruben Kruger.

Former Ryder Cup golfer Brian Barnes has died aged 74 from cancer after a short illness. He was best known for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in a day during the 1975 match against the United States.

Barnes played for Great Britain & Ireland and then Europe in six Ryder Cups between 1969 and 1979 and won 20 professional titles. Born in Surrey, he represented Scotland in team events and recorded three top-10 finishes at the Open Championship.